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Track: GIS Management & Implementation
Curtis Abert
Illinois State Geological Survey
615 East Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61821
Telephone: 217-244-2188
Fax: 217-333-2830
E-mail: abert@flanders.isgs.uiuc.edu
Implementing a GIS Service Program within the Enterprise, the Consultant of the Week Approach
Defining Issue: The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) is a research and service agency with a staff of about 220 people. Due primarily to the evolution of GIS software (becoming easier to use) and PC hardware (increased performance and decreased costs), the ISGS has experienced a significant increase in the number of staff who want to incorporate GIS techniques into their projects. Lacking an established policy, the increased demand for GIS support services tended to overwhelm a few trained GIS staff. It was also difficult to track the service work (who had done what, and when). Solution: A standard method, known as the GIS Consultant of the Week (COW) program, was implemented to respond to GIS service requests. Methodology: The COW program was developed at the ISGS to more efficiently deal with GIS service requests. The GIS operation at the ISGS is mainly centralized around a core of about ten expert GIS users in the Geospatial Analysis and Modeling Section, yet staff from other program areas
(for example, geologic mapping, coal resources, and groundwater) have learned to use GIS databases and techniques. Often, these staff have technical questions or problems and would approach one or two of the core GIS staff members for assistance. Requests for maps or analysis using GIS data from other staff members (non-GIS users) were often routinely directed towards one or two core GIS staff. Further, simple requests occasionally turned into complex projects as the originators of the request either (1) became interested in the power of the GIS and wanted additional products, or (2) continually changed their mind about what they really wanted. The COW program is designed around the concept of having a rotating schedule of primary and secondary GIS consultants available on a weekly basis. This allows for an individual staff member to be "on call" on an average of once a month. At the inception of the program, a total of nine staff were available to work as COWs. The staff in the COW program have
varied levels of experience and expertise, and the early COW rotation schedules ensured pairing inexperienced staff with more experienced staff. In addition to relieving the service pressure from a few staff, the COW program has become an important GIS educational tool at the ISGS as beginning GIS staff are exposed to many varied service tasks. Other benefits of the COW program include increased communication within the GIS team and increased service efficiency for the entire organization.
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